


Helping Hand

by orphan_account



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Acrotomophilia, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-11
Updated: 2012-03-11
Packaged: 2018-04-13 08:36:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4515159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Engineer's worried he's got an infection where his Gunslinger meets the rest of his arm. </p><p>Medic is a little too interested.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Helping Hand

Ah, days off. A rare luxury, to be savoured to the fullest—sleeping in late, eating a deluxe sandvich made (with love) by Heavy, reading quietly. Seeing no one else on the team. Perfect. Medic had just gotten to the reading phase of his day, curled into his worn wing-backed chair with a sigh of deep contentment. 

There was a polite knock on his door, startling him out of his almost-dozing. The Texan’s head poked around the doorway and he smiled, “Hello, doc. Sorry to bother you, but I wouldn’t if I didn’t think I needed to.”

Medic raised an eyebrow, grinding his teeth quietly. “Yes, of course. How can I help you, Engineer?” The German tried to make his features remotely welcoming and not just tell the intruder to go away. Or yell for Heavy to come and crush him. 

“It’ll be quick,” he rubbed the back of his neck, apologetically. He pulled off the one glove he wore and before Medic’s eyes, disassembled a mechanical hand and detached it from his wrist, offering the doctor the amputated limb. “It’s been bothering me lately and I just wanted to know if there’s a chance of infection.”

His curiosity piqued just enough to diminish his anger, Medic eagerly seized the Texan’s foreshortened arm and began twisting it this way and that, examining the stump. “Hmm…yes, it is possible. When was the last time you respawned? This is very interesting technology, I’m glad to get a closer look at it…” Medic’s attention was clearly not on Engineer or his problems.

“I haven’t respawned since last week.” Engineer blinked, nodding appreciatively. Medic holding his arm reminded him of himself with a new machine. It was too good not to touch and test. A good doctor should have that sort of curiosity, just like a good engineer. Though, judging by Medic’s other experiments, Engineer wasn’t the only one to have gone too far with his curiosity.

“Then, yes, it is possible. Normally any infection would be eradicated in the respawning process, which is why you had to be completely healthy at the time your template was created, of course, but if you have not respawned for that long, you may have picked up an infection from somewhere, especially if you have been in the damp.” Medic whirled, his long coat flowing dramatically behind him, and hurried across the room to his attached infirmary. He returned, brandishing a swab and a specimen container with a flourish. “Unless you wish for me to, ah, assist you with respawning immediately…” Medic’s eyes lit up with an entirely non-Hippocratic gleam, “I will take a sample and culture to see what you have.”

“Ah, the sample would be fine,” Engineer raised an eyebrow beneath his helmet and goggles. 

“Yes, yes, very well,” Medic grumbled, clearly disappointed. He dutifully swabbed at the slightly reddened stump, with perhaps a little more force than necessary. He slid the swab into the container and stared at Engineer for a moment before clearing his throat. “Yes. Well. If that’s all…? Unless…” The prospect of examining the robotic hand was almost, almost better than reading. Especially since the man had already invaded his quiet afternoon plans…

“What, did ya need somethin’?” Engineer offered, amiably.

This was invitation enough for Medic, and he seized his teammate’s stump again. Looking at it, he grabbed the corresponding piece of the prosthetic hand and examined it from every angle, murmuring occasionally about this or that innovation. “This is…very good. The anatomical knowledge is quite detailed.” Medic gave Engineer an almost hostile look, but didn’t say anything further.

“Yeah, I made a few different hands before I finally went through with it, and once it was off and I was healed, well, it was easy enough to take the real thing apart and make some molds,” he admitted, honestly glad to have someone to tell. No one else really understood when he said things like that.

“Yes, that makes sense. Wait. You…you did this to yourself?” Medic went from interested to grudging respect in a heartbeat. “That is…commendable. A true dedication to the scientific arts.” Medic’s thumb rubbed over the puckered stump, over and over, without his noticing what he was doing. “That was a wonderful idea, taking your hand apart and simply copying what nature had provided. And, I can see, improving on it.” Medic was practically beaming, but his cheeks were a little flushed and his thumb had sped up. Clearly it was more than simple scientific interest at this point. 

Engineer swallowed hard, face reddening. “I sure am glad you see it that way too, doc. I needed this sort of strength to do some of the things I wanted to do, so I just improved on my design, same as I would for any machine. And this way I can beat Heavy at arm wrestling,” he grinned, trying to diffuse the strange… tension he was getting from the doctor.

Medic smiled, showing his eyeteeth. “That…I would like to see.” He was squirming a little now in his chair, shifting this way and that and trying to get comfortable. He had crossed his legs and was trying to distract himself by picking up more pieces of the robotic hand. 

“I have other attachments for it too, o’ course, my stun gun and a few others.” Engineer found himself almost babbling, not sure what it was about Medic’s behaviour that he found so unsettling, but willing to trust his gut. “I suppose I could make any sort of thing fit, I just haven’t gotten around to making anything new for awhile.” He fiddled with his stump a bit, touching the implanted metal.

Medic nodded without really listening as he reassembled the hand, pausing now and then to make sure he was doing it correctly. “And you can do fine manipulation with it? I have heard that you play the guitar; I thought perhaps only one handed or something. Also, do you have to carry your attachments around? That must get tedious.” 

“Yeah, it’s as fine as my other hand, though I used to find pressure was hard to control. I’ve made enough tweaks that it’s really like having both hands, just with one bein’ a mite stronger, is all. Playin’ guitar is easy enough.” Engineer smiled, watching Medic assemble the hand, “I don’t usually carry them on me, but I’ll leave them with my machines sometimes. And stun guns ain’t hard to build, really, I could probably make one in the field.” 

“Yes, I imagine that you had some interesting mishaps at first,” Medic chuckled, a rather disconcerting sound from him. “You are right handed? As for your attachments, it occurred to me that it might be convenient to hollow out your arm, so they could be stored inside and exchanged as needed. Like…this pen!” His eyes shining with delight, Medic produced a pen with interchangeable ball points. 

“That’d be neat. Still, I ain’t fixin’ to lose anymore flesh until I need to. I love to build and try things, but unless I find a genuine need for it, well, it just ain’t worth it.” Engineer admitted. “It cost me a lot to do this. It doesn’t feel like so much now, since it was so long ago, but it was a hard thing to do.”

“I imagine that you were quite careful masturbating after you first got it,” Medic said with a leer, ignoring the boring, emotional bits of what Engineer had just said. 

His face went red, but he tried to continue answering honestly. “Well, of course, but I’d built ah, well, delicate things before and this wasn’t too different. I …made sure I’d fixed the pressure before I used it though.”

“Very, ah, thoughtful of you.” Medic was now squirming at an alarming rate, and his gaze was quite fixed on Engineer’s groin.

“Well, it’s not the sort of thing you just mess about with, doc.” he flushed, rubbing the back of his neck again.

“No, I suppose not. Not even a man of your, ah, talents. You’ve never felt the need to augment what nature gave you there, eh?” Medic was audibly breathing heavily, leaning forward in his chair. 

“Ah, no…” he shuffled back in his chair a bit, awkwardly fidgeting with his hand, with his goggles.

Medic leaned forward further, clearly invading Engineer’s personal space, and began stroking the Texan’s thigh with the prosthetic hand.

“Ah, thanks, sawbones.” he took the hand from Medic, pretending to be completely naïve to what the doctor was attempting to do and forcing himself to believe that the doctor was simply handing it to him.

Medic gave a small moue as his game was thwarted, but leaned back in his chair and surrendered the hand. “Well. If that is all…?” His hand was noticeably creeping toward his groin. 

“Yep. Thanks doc!” Engineer tore out of there as if he was on fire.

**Author's Note:**

> Transferred from Y!Gallery. I believe this one was written solely by me.


End file.
